Only One Direction for The X Factor Middle East’s The 5 to go

When the guys from the Arab boy band The 5 stepped onto The X Factor Middle East stage on Saturday night in Beirut, during the first live episode of the television talent contest, the audience went wild.

It was only their second time singing as a group, but The 5 were in perfect harmony when they performed at the first live episode of the Middle East's The X Factor. Courtesy MBC

They have their hair tousled just so, the bulging biceps and the 1,000-watt smiles. At the rate at which things are going, One Direction might soon have some serious competition in the shape of a new Arab boy band: The 5.

When Ahmed Hassan from Egypt, Adel Echibi from Morocco, Kazem Chamas from Lebanon and the Algerian duo Said Karmouz and BMD (Mohamed Bouhezza) stepped onto The X Factor Middle East stage on Saturday night in Beirut, during the first live episode of the television talent contest, the audience went wild.

The boys already know how to work the crowd. They are handsome, comfortable on stage, fluid in their movements, their voices blend well – and the audience loved them. It’s hard to believe that it was only their second time singing together as a group.

Other than Karmouz and BMD, who auditioned together – BMD is an effortless rapper and Karmouz is a guitar player and excellent tenor – the boys had not met before their X Factor auditions. They had all registered as solo performers and successfully got through the audition stages, but were then given an ultimatum by the judges: either go home or agree to become a boy band and compete in the "groups" category. The turn of events was almost identical to how One Direction were formed.

The Lebanese judge Elissa already admitted she has a hopeless crush on Hassan, 21, and Karmouz. During BMD and Karmouz’s audition, Elissa whispered into fellow Lebanese judge Ragheb Alama’s ear: “I can’t believe how delicious this boy looks.”

The Arab world seems to agree. We’ve lost track of how many fan pages have already been created for the boys, both individually and as a group, on Instagram and Facebook.

When they first sang together, during the first elimination rounds, they performed the popular dance anthem Ahla Haga Fiki, a song by Mohamed Hamaki and Perry Mystique that combines singing and rapping, allowing BMD to shine – prompting the audience to erupt in the loudest cheers of the night.

After their performance, Elissa said: “The best thing for me as a woman is the pleasure of watching young men like you on stage.”

Saturday night's song – Anti – was equally well-chosen and the three judges praised the performance. The boys were flawless as their five voices combined in perfect harmony.

There were 12 performances in all on Saturday night’s show, four in the Arabic solo category, where contestants were mentored by Elissa; four in the international solo category, with Alama as a mentor; and four in the groups category, mentored by the Egyptian judge Donia Ghanem. Voting via telephone and SMS will continue throughout the week until the live elimination round on Saturday, April 25.

Considering their popularity, it’s safe to assume we will be seeing much more of The 5, whom Ghanem has described as her personal “One Direction”.

* The X Factor Middle East is on Saturday night at 10pm on MBC4